1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication interface, a system having a mobile communication interface, and a method for identifying, diagnosing, maintaining, and repairing a vehicle via a mobile communication interface, in particular in a motor vehicle repair shop.
2. Description of the Related Art
Published German patent application document DE 44 46 512 A1 discloses a device for carrying out a vehicle check using a mobile wireless part which relays diagnostic data from a vehicle to a repair shop.
Published German patent application document DE 199 21 846 A1 discloses a diagnostic test device having a portable inspection device for motor vehicles.
The technical development of motor vehicle inspection technology has resulted in a plurality of specific external inspection devices for different inspection fields and motor vehicle components. The vehicle inspection devices used for this purpose are highly specialized and adapted to the corresponding vehicle components. Vehicle inspection devices are frequently used at special work stations in a repair shop or an inspection site, for example, since the vehicle inspection devices are installed fixedly in the repair shop. A vehicle which is present in the repair shop for error diagnosis and/or repair is moved from work station to work station, depending on the inspection or repair to be performed.
In today's motor vehicles, many functions are carried out by electronic control units which are connected to the vehicle electronics system. The electronic control units often also take over the on board diagnostic functions of the vehicle systems and store special diagnostic and/or operating mode data. To be able to evaluate the data of the diagnostic functions from the control units, universal diagnosis testers have been developed which enable a communication with the control units present in the vehicle. The functionality of the communication may vary greatly and relates, for example, to reading out stored error codes, relaying actual values, carrying out complex actuator tests, resetting service intervals, breaking in installed replacement parts, and similar tasks.
Diagnostic testers usually include in this case an assembly which is responsible for the communication with the vehicle. Most of the time, this assembly is used as a vehicle communication interface (VCI). VCIs of this type may also be situated in their own housing and communicate with universal operating and display devices, such as laptops, PDAs, or smart phones, via wired or wireless transmission. The diagnostic functionality of universal diagnostic testers or operating and display devices is in this case ensured via a corresponding diagnostic software which enables the operation, the display, the diagnosis sequence control, and the communication with the electronic control units via the VCI.
The specialization of the vehicle inspection devices currently usually requires the combination of individual inspection and repair steps with communication steps and the evaluation of the data in the electronic control units.
Two basic approaches, which are schematically shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, have been established so far in the design of the inspection devices and repair shop visits.
FIG. 6 shows a vehicle 61 in a repair shop. Vehicle 61 includes here one or multiple electronic control units 62 which are installed in vehicle 61. During an inspection or repair sequence in a repair shop, vehicle 61 is moved to different work stations 65a, 65b, and 65c which may be spatially separated from one another. At each of work stations 65a, 65b, 65c, a specific vehicle inspection device or a universal operating and display device 64a, 64b, 64c is present which is assigned to the particular work station. Specific vehicle inspection devices 64a, 64b, 64c may be connected for inspection purposes to the components of vehicle 61, e.g., the exhaust, the engine, the air conditioner, or other components. At each work station, a universal diagnostic tester 63 associated with particular work station 65a, 65b, 65c is additionally provided, using which the communication with electronic control units 62 of vehicle 61 is established via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. Alternatively, the repair shop has only one universal diagnostic tester 63 which is moved from work station to work station as needed.
During a repair shop visit of vehicle 61, it is necessary that particular universal diagnostic tester 63 of each work station 65a, 65b, 65c is connected to the not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. The operation of diagnostic tester 63 and of particular vehicle inspection device 64a, 64b, 64c takes place separately. This may lead to manual input errors by the users of the devices. Moreover, a certain amount of additional time and effort is required for the repeated identification of vehicle 61 at each of work stations 65a, 65b, 65c by diagnostic tester 63.
FIG. 7 shows a different approach: A vehicle 71 having one or multiple installed electronic control units 72 passes through work stations 75a, 75b, 75c in a repair shop. There is a specific vehicle inspection device 74a, 74b, 74c at each of work stations 75a, 75b, 75c. Each of specific vehicle inspection devices 74a, 74b, 74c includes an integrated VCI 73a, 73b, 73c, with the aid of which a communication is established with electronic control units 72 in vehicle 71 via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. For this reason, the operation of a separate universal diagnostic tester in parallel to the vehicle inspection device, as in FIG. 6, is dispensed with. Furthermore, a separate identification of vehicle 71 is, however, necessary at different work stations 75a, 75b, 75c by particular integrated VCI 73a, 73b, 73c. Moreover, particular vehicle inspection devices 74a, 74b, 74c, in particular their inspection device software, must be adapted to integrated VCIs 73a, 73b, 73c. At a work station without a specific vehicle inspection device, a universal diagnostic tester having an integrated VCI may then be used.
FIG. 8 shows an improved vehicle inspection device set-up in a repair shop. A vehicle 10, in particular a motor vehicle, includes one or multiple electronic control units 10a. Electronic control unit (s) 10a may include specific control units for specific vehicle components or universal electronic control units 10a of vehicle 10. Electronic control units 10a may have available diagnostic data, error data, actual values, operating mode data, or similar vehicle-relevant data for specific vehicle components via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface and may be transferred into certain operating modes or sequences.
Electronic control unit(s) 10a is/are connected to a VCI 1 via a not illustrated standardized vehicle interface. VCI 1 may be connected to vehicle 10 at the beginning of a repair shop visit, e.g., at the vehicle drop-off point. VCI 1 may be configured to store unambiguous identification data of vehicle 10, e.g., the vehicle owner, the license plate number, the vehicle make, the vehicle manufacturer, the chassis number, or similar identification data. The unambiguous identification data may in this case be reentered at the vehicle drop-off of the repair shop with the aid of a universal operating and display device or retrieved from a previous repair shop visit from a central repair shop data base.
VCI 1 is configured to be moved along with vehicle 10 in the repair shop when vehicle 10 is moved through work stations 42, 43, 44. At work stations 41, 42, 43, 44, specific vehicle inspection devices or universal operating and display devices 3a, 3b, 3c are located which are equipped with a standardized diagnostic server device 2. Diagnostic server device 2 is configured in each case to establish a communication with VCI 1 and thus with electronic control unit(s) 10a of vehicle 10. In this case, specific vehicle inspection devices 3a, 3b, 3c may be connected at every work station to the particular vehicle components of vehicle 10 to carry out the diagnosis and/or repair work of vehicle 10.
In this way, information regarding vehicle 10 as well as identification data of vehicle 10 are available rapidly and easily at every work station 42, 43, 44. Data, such as diagnostic data, repair data, maintenance data, measurement results, setting parameters and the like, must, however, be secured in a vehicle-specific manner. Until now, a repair shop network has been used to which all vehicle inspection devices or universal operating and display devices 3a, 3b, 3c are connected. Via the repair shop network, work station-related and vehicle-specific data may be stored and retrieved at every work station 42, 43, 44.
The repair shop interconnection is, however, associated with costs which may be due to a necessary installation or due to an operation of such a network. There is therefore a demand for efficient and cost-effective approaches to collect and store vehicle-specific data in the course of a repair shop visit.